Political rivals give mixed reactions

By Tarani Palani and Patrick Lee

Opposition MPs call it an election budget while the government side lauds the incentives given to the poor and lower income groups.

KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s “feel good” Budget 2012 drew mixed reactions from parliamentarians from both sides of the divide.

Anwar Ibrahim, de-facto PKR president (Permatang Pauh MP)

It is clearly an election ploy. You promise everybody… it’s completely irresponsible. You don’t talk about it in terms of increasing revenue. You don’t talk about transparency, proper tender process, and making sure that there’s an efficient administration to combat corruption.

Nurul Izzah Anuar, PKR vice-president (Lembah Pantai MP)

It is clearly an election budget. There is no fiscal responsibility when incentives are also for the cronies… I don’t see how the economy can improve that way. But I agree with the other incentives for the rakyat.

Dzulkifli Ahmad, PAS central committee member (Kuala Selangor MP)

I do not see a central theme to the budget. I see goodies given to appease every sector. I don’t see anything solid. Income inequality is not addressed at all. Najib is asking us to join hands for MPs to get a pay rise… we don’t need that. Pakatan Rakyat will never support this. Our (Pakatan’s) budget calls for a distributive budget and they (the government) is responding to it.

Zulkifli Nordin, Independent, (Kulim Bandar Baru MP)

This is the third time I have heard a budget speech as an MP and I am very excited about it as it is a holistic budget. It is so holistic that even criminals will be given free legal aid. We cannot compare the government’s budget to the Opposition’s… because the latter is not in power.

Wee Choo Keong, Independent, (Wangsa Maju)

I feel that it is a real people’s budget. I hope that every budget every year is like this where we can do more for the people, like giving aid to senior citizens who have helped build the country. This is a budget where the poor benefit a lot.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, (Sembrong MP)

For us in the Home Ministry, this (budget) is not rhetoric. This is real proof that the modernisation of the police is here, what more with the Internal Security Act being replaced by new laws, and other improvements. All this will inject (a new) spirit into the police force in Malaysia.

Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen, (Raub MP)

This is a budget for everybody. It’s a budget for today and tomorrow… every sector is involved. It’s a very comprehensive budget, especially for the lower income group. The budget is very important, especially with the investment tax exemption given to all four-star and four-star hotels built in the peninsular. We need many hotels… this will definitely be an impetus to the tourism industry.

SK Devamany, MIC vice-president, (Cameran Highlands MP)

People say that the budget is an election budget but whatever they may call it, it shows that the government is willing to share with everyone – the young, the old, the poor, the rich, the corporate groups and government servants.The budget also reflects a strategy that instead of stimulating economic growth with mega-projects, Najib wants to stimulate the economy by putting more money in people’s pockets. With that, hopefully the 4.7 % deficit can be addressed.

Source : FMT